This past year “is where we found the bottom, so to speak,” he said. “In some areas, things are starting to ratchet up.”

Median prices were up over last year for townhomes, condos, single-family homes and land, according to data from Labor.

Out of a list of nine market indicators compiled by Labor, the only one showing negative movement was rising interest rates for mortgages.

And he said he would expect more of the same steady growth for 2014.

One possible issue, Labor said, is the diverging mindsets of buyers and sellers.

“I was seeing some of that this past year,” he said. “Sellers thought that the market was better than it was, and buyers thought it was worse.”

The frenetic pace that Denver’s real estate market went through in the first part of 2013 could bode well for Steamboat.

“We’re usually a year to a year and a half behind the Denver market,” Labor said. “Knowing how well they did this last year, that should be another indication that things will continue to improve.”

Also in 2013, Labor said, Steamboat saw almost the same number of condo sales as occurred in 2002. While new condo inventory came on the market in 2002, no major developments were completed in 2013, he said.

The lack of condo projects on the horizon could lead to an inventory shortfall in the near-term, Labor said.

One number that continues to lag is the number of Realtors in the Steamboat area.

The Steamboat Springs Board of Realtors had more than 435 members in 2007. Now, it has 306 members.

“It’s not an easy business,” Labor said. “The amount of time you have to put into it and money it takes has to pan out.

“It’s not the semi-order taking that was being done in '05, '06 and '07. It’s very competitive.”